Friday, November 14, 2014

We Are Succeeding Against All Odds - Pres. Jonathan

Text of President Goodluck Jonathan's Speech Declaring his Intention to Run for the 2015
Presidential Elections under the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

Eagle Square, Abuja

Tuesday 11th November,
2014

Dear
Compatriots:

Four years ago, precisely September 18, 2010, I
stood in this Eagle Square,
to offer myself for election as the President of our beloved country on the
platform of our great party; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Seven months after that declaration, you
elected me to lead this country with overwhelming support from all parts of our
Nation. I remain grateful for the trust you reposed in me to lead our Nation
through uncommon challenges in our march of progress as a united and democratic
country.

Over the years, the Almighty God has made it
possible for me to develop a bond with you and I am grateful for your support
and understanding in the difficult periods we have journeyed through.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our
stewardship has not been without challenges. We have had to deal with the wave
of insurgency that has swept through some parts of our dear country. Only
yesterday, GovernmentScienceSecondary School
in YobeState was bombed by insurgents, killing
our promising young children who were seeking education to build the country
and support their parents. Many Nigerians have lost their lives and property to
these mindless killings. Let me crave the indulgence of all present here to
stand up to observe a minutes silence in honour of these young lads who lost
their lives. Clearly, this has cast a dark cloud on our Nation but we will
surely win the war against terror. A number of young men and women have been
kidnapped by these criminal elements including our daughters from Chibok. We will
free our daughters and defeat terror.

We are equipping the armed forces and
deploying special forces to engage the terrorist and end this senseless war. We
must protect our country. We must save our people. I will do everything humanly
possible to end this criminal violence in our Nation.

President Jonathan and his, wife, Patience at the event(pix: Nigeriancurrent)

To ensure the long term stability and development
of the affected areas, government has launched three programmes: The
Presidential Initiative for the North East, the Victim Support Fund and the
Safe School Initiative. The Presidential Initiative for the Northeast is
focused on improving infrastructure and economic growth in the region. The Safe
School Initiative is centred on creating a safe environment to encourage our
children in the communities to acquire education. The Victim Support Fund, a
partnership with the Private Sector, has raised about 60 billion Naira, which
will help to empower and rehabilitate victims of terror. I promise the victims
of these dastardly acts that we will continue to stand with you.

I am grateful to all Nigerians for standing with
us.

Let me also thank the leaders and elders of our
great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, for the opportunity you have given
to me to serve our country, Nigeria.

I am overwhelmed by the trust, confidence and
support of the various organs of our party, the Board of Trustees, the National
Caucus, the National Executive Committee, the National Working Committee, the
PDP Governors Forum, members of the PDP Caucuses of the National Assembly, and
others.

This day affords me the opportunity to continue the
conversation of development we started together. We must develop our
country.

Infrastructure has been a major focus area of my
administration and so, we pursued the power sector reform to this point of
irreversible progress. Nigeria
has undertaken a most transparent and corruption-free bidding process,
attracting global commendation. The on-going 450MW Azura Power Plant in EdoState
is a testimony to the success of this transformation.

We have also resumed development of our Hydro-Power
potential, with the construction of the 700MW Zungeru Hydro-Power Plant, while
construction work on the 3,050MW Mambilla Hydro-Power Plant is about to take
off.

Our power generation and distribution companies
have now been privatized. We are firmly on the road to guaranteed regular power
supply in the months ahead. This our bold move, is paying off!

We are committed to environmental protection and
conservation and reducing vulnerability to climate change. In this regard, we
have embarked on a number of projects across the country. Of particular note is
the African Great Green Wall Programmed, where we have released about 16
billion naira for implementation. The project will create a green belt across
11 states from Kebbi to Borno.

In the past three and half years, the water sector
has witnessed unprecedented improvement. Access to potable water is
now 67%, up from 58% in 2010, while sanitation coverage is 41%, from 32% within
the same period.

Major developments in water include the completion
of 37 Dams and rehabilitation of 10, with several others under-going
construction. The flagship Kashimbila Multipurpose Dam which is being built to
contain flood from LakeNyos in Cameroon, is now at 90% completion.
We have also completed about 5,000 rural and semi urban water schemes.

We are reforming the National Urban Water supply
programmes in 12 states, with 385 formal and informal irrigation projects,
covering a total land area of 118,000 hectares, cultivated mostly by small
holder farmers. This has yielded over 3 million metric tons of assorted grains
and vegetables, with a market value of about 45 billion naira.

Before the advent of this administration, the
Railway system was practically dead. Today, we have revived the rail sector.
The narrow gauge line from Lagos to Kano has been
rehabilitated with improved coaches providing regular services. The
rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail line is progressing with the
Port Harcourt-Gombe segment as well as the branch line from Kafanchan to Kaduna expected to be
completed and fully operational by December 2014.

Already, work on the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge
rail line, is progressing. The tracks of the rail line will be completed by
December this year 2014. Upon completion of the project in the first quarter of
2015, it will be possible for Nigerians to live in Kaduna
and work in Abuja.
The Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri standard gauge line has attained an advanced stage,
with the track completely laid. We hope to commence full operation before the
end of 2015.

Other segments of the new standard gauge speed
train network are planned, with contract already awarded for the Lagos –Ibadan Segment.
There will be more of such modern and faster rail connections in the coming
years. Already, discussions are now at advanced stage, for the Coastal rail
line that will traverse through 10 states, from Lagos through the South-South and South-East,
all the way to Calabar.

My administration has successfully completed the
dredging of the lower River Niger
from Baro in NigerState to Warri in DeltaState.
The cheering news is that over 6.7 million passengers and over 1.6
million tonnes of cargo have been moved through this channel in less than
three years.

I am happy to also report that our ports now operate
24 hours service, which has led to the reduction of clearing time and improved
efficiency.

When I assumed office in 2010, out of the 35,000km
of federal roads nationwide, only about 5,000km were motorable. Today, that
number has increased to about 25,000km. We expect to complete the remaining
10,000km in three years while initiating new ones.

I made a commitment to build two new major bridges
across the River Niger and River Benue. Today, the new bridge over the River
Benue, connecting Loko in NassarawaState to Oweto in BenueState has reached an advanced stage of
completion, while work has commenced on the SecondNigerBridge.

Beyond these, my administration has concluded plans
to re-commence the construction of Bodo-Bonny Road with three major bridges on
the alignment that will link the Island
of Bonny with Rivers
mainland.

President Jonathan, VP Sambo, their wives and PDP stalwarts at the event(pix:nigeriancurrent)

Preliminary works have started on my
administration’s planned re-construction and expansion of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road
in Lagos to a
world class entry point into our country. Only a few months ago, work started
on the dualization of Kano-Katsina
Road. While many Nigerians are celebrating the
marked improvements on our roads, I want to assure that it will get even better
as we move forward.

In the pursuit of an integrated transportation
system, we embarked on the construction of five new AirportTerminalBuildings and Air-field
facilities. We are also re-constructing existing ones. The re-construction upon
completion, will lead to improved passenger processing, increased cargo
handling capacity and enhanced Air-field facilities that meet international
standards and improves safety. These efforts have been met with global
acknowledgement including the attainment and retention of the FAA Category One
status.

In housing, we signed the National Housing Policy
to kick-start the framework for providing more affordable homes for our people.
We have also expanded the National Housing Fund to accommodate more Nigerians.
We have started a revolution in the housing sector with the start of the
Nigerian Mortgage and Refinanced Company (NMRC), a new initiative of
my administration, that will enable more citizens in the lower income bracket
to become first time home owners.

Our partners such as the World Bank group are supporting
this with US300million dollars interest free credit, while my administration
will back it with over 100billion naira in bonds. We are already processing
66,000 mortgage applications for our young people. We have amended the PENCOM
Act to enable the pension funds invest in housing sector bonds. This will
create a boom in the housing sector.

In the FederalCapitalTerritory,
we are rapidly building a befitting National Capital by expanding and providing
new infrastructure, developing ten new districts and Satellite Towns to cater
for the ever increasing population. In no distant future, you will be able to
arrive at the NnamdiAzikiweInternationalAirport and proceed to
the city using the Abuja Light Rail. In addition to providing durable health,
educational and transportation services, we are also collaborating with
Organized Labour to build functional, affordable and social housing in Abuja.

Other critical capital developments that are being
packaged by this Administration include the development of the Ultra-Modern
World Trade Centre, the Abuja Town Centre, the Jabi Lake Comprehensive Centre,
the CentenaryCity and the Land Swap Districts. This
private sector driven infrastructural development will positively change the
skyline of the city and provide the required office and residential
accommodation, shopping and recreation as well as tourism and entertainment
facilities in the FCT.

In our determination to encourage much greater
participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas industry, one of the first
actions I took, was the enactment of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content
Development Act. As a result of this law, indigenous Nigerian participation
levels, in upstream and downstream activities of the oil and gas industry have
increased by over 45%, thereby increasing employment opportunities for our
youth.

President Jonathan greets supporters(pix:nigeriancurrent)

We have also succeeded in eliminating the long
queues that previously characterised our filling stations, through regular and
sustained product supply.

Gas infrastructure to ensure adequate Gas to Power
and Gas to Industry, is being aggressively put in place. Over 450km of gas
pipelines have been installed over the last 3years. Another 2,000km is planned
over the next 4years. Critical petrochemical and fertilizer facilities have
commenced including the gas industrial park in DeltaState,
for which I am scheduled to perform the ground-breaking ceremony this
Friday. This will create millions of jobs and make Nigeria a regional hub.

In addition, as a result of government’s favourable
policies the private sector is investing over 12 billion dollars in the
petrochemical sector, over the next 4years. This will surely create millions of
jobs for our people.

In terms of gas supply, we have grown from less
than 500 million cubic feet per day, 4years ago, to about 1.5 billion cubic
feet per day currently. Our goal is to attain 4 billion cubic feet per day,
over the next 4years.

We have changed the face of agriculture. We moved
agriculture away from a development Programme to agriculture as a business. My
vision is to create wealth for our people through agriculture.

We have focused on encouraging the private sector
to boost investments in the agricultural sector. As a result, the number of
seed companies rose from five to eighty in the past three years. Private sector
investment in the agricultural sector expanded by $ US 5.6 billion across the
Agricultural value chain.

We ended decades of corruption in the fertilizer
and seed sectors. We developed a transparent and efficient system of reaching
farmers directly with subsidized farm inputs. Before our reforms, fertilizer
procurement and distribution took from the needy and gave to the greedy. We
restored dignity back to farmers. Today, 14 million farmers, of which 2 million
are women, access fertilizers with their mobile phones, through an e-wallet
system. Nigeria
is the first country in the world to develop an e-wallet system to reach
farmers with subsidized farm inputs on their mobile phones. Several African
countries are now borrowing this transparent and efficient e-wallet system for
their own countries.

Our national food production expanded by an
additional 21 million metric tons between 2011 and 2014, a record, exceeding
our set target of 20 million metric tons set for 2015. The Dangote Group, has
committed to invest $US
1 billion in commercial rice production and processing. With all these
developments, we are expected to be an exporter of rice in the next five years.
This will be a new dawn!

Presidential Spokesperson, Dr. Reuben Abati at the event(pix:nigeriancurrent) The benefits are showing on our food imports. Our
food import bill has declined from 1.1 trillion Naira in 2009 to 684 billion
Naira by December 2013, even with our increasing population, a reduction of
40%.

Nigeria met its Millennium
Development Goal One on reducing hunger and extreme poverty, two years ahead of
the 2015 target set by the United Nations, and was given an award by the Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

To sustain this trend, we are encouraging young
graduates through the Nagropreneurs Programme to go into commercial
Agriculture. We are also encouraging our students in Post Primary Schools to
embrace commercial Agriculture through the National School Agriculture
Programme.

My dear people, corruption remains a big challenge
in our national life. It corrodes our efforts at development and at motivating
competence in critical sectors of our national growth. We have eradicated it in
the agricultural sector and we will surely eradicate it in other sectors of our
economy.

Going forward, my focus is to continue to reinforce
institutions, systems, and processes to tackle corruption, and also to bring to
justice those that perpetrate corruption. Through the Integrated
Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), we have weeded out 56,000
ghost workers from the Federal Civil Service, saving 162 billion naira.

I have directed ICPC to bring the perpetrators of
this criminal act to book. Let this be very clear, public officers must live by
example, fully accounting for the national trust and resources in their
care.

In our journey to progress, knowledge is
indispensable. Knowledge is power! This is why my administration established 14
new Universities out of which 12 are conventional and two are specialized
Police and MaritimeUniversities. Under my
watch, every state in Nigeria,
now has a FederalUniversity.

In addition, over 500 billion naira has been spent,
through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the special NEEDS
assessment fund on various projects to increase access and improve the quality
of infrastructure at the tertiary level of our education system.

To provide equal access and opportunities in
education and ensure that no Nigerian child is left behind, we have established
and equipped 150 Almajiri Schools across the Northern states and the
Out-of-School-Children Programme including Specialized Boys and GirlsSchools
across the country.

Fellow Nigerians, our country was faced with a
major National security, humanitarian, and economic threat in the form of the
Ebola Virus Disease, which arrived in the country on July 20, 2014, by way of a
foreign national, Mr Patrick Sawyer.

Realizing the imminent threat, I declared a
national emergency, pulling states, local and federal government into action as
well as individual Nigerians to combat this disease. Without the quick action
of patriotic Nigerians at the FirstConsultantsHospital,
as well as the co-operation of Lagos and RiversStates,
where the disease occurred, working with the Federal Ministry of Health and the
co-operation of all Nigerians we could not have succeeded in overcoming this
deadly disease. Fellow Nigerians, we stopped Ebola together.

Just as we stopped Ebola, we are on our way to
eradicating the Polio Virus in our country. We have reduced the
incident of new Polio Virus from 300
in 2010, to 6 today.

My brothers and sisters, to encourage
entrepreneurship and self-reliance among our teeming graduates, we have
developed creative opportunities for enterprise for our young people.

Programmes such as YouWIN, the Graduate Internship
Scheme, the Nagropreneurs Initiative, the 220 Billion Naira Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises Development Fund and the 3 Billion Naira Grant to Nollywood
are empowering our graduates, the creative industry and other young people to
start up their own businesses and employ others.

We have supported the growth of industry through
policy and action. We launched The National industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP),
and the National Enterprise Development Programme as key drivers to bring about
our desires in the industrial sector and to diversify our economy. Our new
National Automobile Policy is transforming Nigeria into a vibrant hub for the
automobile industry. Our own Innoson Motors is producing world standard
vehicles, and Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia, have set up factories in Nigeria and are
employing thousands of our people.

Our support for cement production is unprecedented.
We have increased our installed capacity from 16.5 million metric tons per
annum in 2011 to 39.5 million metric tons per annum in 2014. Nigeria is now
exporting cement. We are moving forward!

Our efforts to create an enabling environment for
job creation in different sectors of the economy including the MSME sector,
agriculture, housing and manufacturing have yielded results. Between the third
quarter of 2012, when we started tracking jobs created and the end of 2013, 1.9
million jobs were created. To deepen our success in this area, I have created a
Presidential Jobs Creation Board headed by the Vice President with the mandate
to create at least two million jobs a year.

My brothers and sisters, our economy is heading in
the right direction and our efforts are yielding positive results. Our economy
continues to grow at the rate of 6 to 7 percent annually, one of the highest in
the world. Our country is now the top investment destination and the largest
economy in Africa, with a GDP of 80trillion
naira (510billion dollars) as well as the 26th largest economy in the
world.

As part of its efforts to support inclusive growth
and economic development in Nigeria through the CBN, my administration has
created and disbursed the sum of 200billion naira via the Commercial Agric and
Credit scheme, 300billion naira Power and Aviation fund, 220billion naira
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Fund, as well as 300 billion naira rail sector
refinancing facilities at single digit interest rate. We will continue to
deepen the reforms in the financial sector, in order to sustain the growth of
our economy and uplift our people from poverty to prosperity.

Dear Compatriots, I promised as President, that we
would sanitize and restore integrity in our electoral process, by ensuring that
our votes are not only counted, but truly count. We have gone to great length
to ensure transparent, free, fair, and credible elections. Elections
have been conducted across the country with local and international election
observers testifying to their transparency.

On the international scene, we have advanced our
regional, continental and global objectives. We have strengthened our
relationships with our neighbours and in many instances supported them to
protect their democracy, security and stability. We are serving for a second
time within a period of 4 years at the United Nations Security Council. This is
unprecedented in our Nation’s history. My brothers and sisters, this is a
growing attestation of our country’s growing influence.

In the first quarter of this year, our country
celebrated its centenary. To prepare the nation for the challenges of the next
one hundred years, I convened a National Conference where recommendations and
resolutions were reached towards a more perfect union. We shall implement the
report.

Four years ago, I made a commitment to advance the
rise of womanhood. Today, I am glad that we have made remarkable progress in
this regard, trusting in the potential of our women and reaping from their
dedication and ingenuity. I believe that any nation that ignores womanhood
cannot achieve its full potential. It is in this regard that I ensured that
women were given more opportunities in government, and I have not been
disappointed.

Specifically, I doubled the percentage of women in
the cabinet and gave them more challenging assignments.

The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), is now
admitting female cadets as regular combatants and it is now possible for a
woman to rise through the ranks to the peak in military service, and become a
full general.

We must continue to sustain the banner of freedom
and justice that we have held high in our country. I am proud to say that there
are no political prisoners in Nigeria
today. No Nigerian has been driven into exile and no one will be, under my
watch.

It is in furtherance of a peaceful, participatory
and inclusive democracy that I signed the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill
into law, to expand the frontiers of our fundamental freedom.

Let me re-affirm that under a Jonathan Presidency,
your views, no matter how freely expressed, will not send you to prison or into
exile.

I am convinced that I have kept my pact with
Nigerians, and it is now time to look to the future. With your tremendous
support, we have collectively done so much in the last three and half years,
but to take our country to the next level, there is still more to be done.

History has shown that the path of honour for any
true leader is not to walk away from his people in moments of challenges. We
must stand together in adversity and overcome all threats to our development.
We must defend our future, for the sake of our children.

So many things have inspired me in the journey to
this moment. I want to appreciate ordinary Nigerians, especially young people,
for the solidarity shown to me by contributing their meagre resources to enable
me arrive at this point.

I appreciate the kind gesture of the Cattle
Breeders Union, Miyetti Allah, and the Market Women
Association, who encouraged me by coming together to contribute to the purchase
of my Nomination form.

In the same vein, I am touched by the National
Association of Widows who also encouraged me with their widow’s mite.

This labour of love, from ordinary Nigerians, has
increased my appreciation of your solidarity, my trust in our joint destiny,
and all we have achieved together these past three and half years.

Therefore, after seeking the face of God, in quiet
reflection with my family and having listened to the call of our people
nationwide to run, I, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, have accepted to
re-present myself, on the platform of The Peoples’ Democratic Party, for
re-election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the 2015 general
elections.

Democracy is a collective action, energized by
individual responsibility. Your mandate at this time will inspire in me the
strength to complete the good work we have started together.

My dear people of Nigeria, we must complete the task of
ensuring that we lift the poor out of the depth of want, and place their feet
firmly on the ladder of prosperity.

In this election season, I appeal to all of you,
not to harm, maim or kill; and not to incite violence of any kind. We must
never forget our common bond, one people from the womb of one Nigeria. Again
I say: My ambition to serve you is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. I
remain committed to this principle of non-violence.

If you believe that we must build a country that
works for all, where the strong lift up the weak, and not trample upon them,
where the vote of every citizen determines who governs or represents you, where
the democratic space is open to all citizens to fulfil their aspirations,
irrespective of the circumstances of birth, your brother, Goodluck Ebele
Azikiwe Jonathan stands ready to continue in service to you.

My brothers and sisters, we cannot go back to the
old ways! Our railways were allowed to rot in neglect, we have revived and are
modernising them.

Our road infrastructure collapsed. We are
reconstructing, and expanding federal roads across the country.

Our agricultural practices did not benefit our
farmers and our people. Fertilizer distribution was a major source
of fraud and we were importing more food more than our
budget could support. Now we are on our way to self-sufficiency in food
production.

We cannot go back to the old ways, where there were
long queues at our filling stations due to irregular supply of products and our
people were exploited.

We cannot go back to the old ways, when women and
youths were denied opportunities in government and in responsible positions.

We had skewed distribution of tertiary institutions.
Whereas some states had more than one degree awarding institution, some had
none. We have now made sure all states have at least one FederalUniversity.

Our economy is now the largest in Africa.
Once, we were virtually importing everything, now we are exporting several
products, including cement.

In 2009, average life expectancy was 47 years, by
the end of 2013, it was 52 years. Some of our hospitals now perform open heart
surgeries, kidney transplants and other challenging operations as we reposition
our health service to end decades of medical tourism that drains our scarce
resources.

Together, in unity, we overcame Ebola, and in the
process demonstrated the strength of the Nigerian spirit. And together, united,
we must maintain our vigilance.

We cannot go back to the old ways where individual
freedoms were trampled upon and citizens were locked up for expressing their
views or criticising government.

We must continue to have free and fair elections.
We cannot go back to the era where ballot box snatching and stuffing became the
norm. Where your votes never counted.

Certainly, we cannot!

We have to move forward! Only forward!!, my dear
people, Forward!!!

In moving forward, I see a Nigeria that
thirsts for progress with children across the nation, eager for knowledge and
safely in schools!

I see a Nigeria where all who have taken up
arms, would again embrace peace!

I see a Nigeria where our women can aspire
to any heights, without hindrance!

I see a Nigeria where the flames in the
Eagles will rekindle, and the Falcons will soar higher in victory!

I see a Nigeria
where the children of Mustapha, and Christopher, Ade and Ada, Timi and Bunmi, Nnamdi and Namadi, do
not go hungry!

I see a Nigeria where all, no matter their
beliefs, live in peace and harmony!

I see a Nigeria where the green passport is
accorded a royal reception the world over!

I see a Nigeria where one day the next
generation will take us to outer space.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, leadership is
about staying focused to achieve goals despite challenges. I have been faced
with many challenges since coming to office as President. With your support and
encouragement, we have stayed the course.

We are succeeding, against all odds. For the young
Nigerian child, who grew up in the rural area, just like me, we are expanding
opportunities and giving them hope. For the market woman, we are expanding
opportunities. For our young entrepreneurs, we are expanding opportunities. For
the right of our people to vote and for their voices to be heard, we are
expanding opportunities. For Nigerians to have the right to free speech, we are
expanding opportunities. For the job seekers, against all odds, we are
expanding opportunities.

While serving our people, I will always ensure the
rule of law. I do not intimidate, I expand the democratic space. I
give voice to the voiceless and uphold the weak, for the nation belongs to us
all. Fellow Nigerians, as we build our democracy, leaders must show temperance
at all times. That is a virtue, one which I treasure, and will always uphold.

My people, Nigeria is destined for greatness.
Today, here at Eagle Square,
I say to Nigeria,
that working together in love, in strength and in faith, we will build a nation
of one people, united in purpose and in action.

Fellow Nigerians, it is forward ever! We must put
our hopes to work! Together, we will realize our collective destiny.